world

new york feels less like a city and more like a metaphoric mapping of the world that you can inhabit. it seems that you brush shoulders with people from every part of the earth here. almost everything imaginable can be found here except for museums of holography, which seem to have closed recently due to the economic recession. visiting here has been a mirror for me to evaluate my ambitions and desires. by navigating the city you confront your fears and your wildest dreams. and sometimes just come to the conclusion that you want to be home without all the commotion. for the first time in my life the world isn't too big to know, but i know that it is too big to know. the former being infinite and unexplainable, the second being finite and unexplainable. it's like knowing that you're in a big never-ending one act play. but everyone and everything you've ever known, including yourself is acting in it. and you can't get out.

i've reached the end of my trajectory. tomorrow i'm going to baltimore.

stuff

for the past couple days i've been following a course charted by suggestions that paul from kidrobot had for me to check out. i like seeing store displays and the varieties of merchandise available in different shops. it's like reading about clothing in an encyclopedia specifically linked to 2010. a reminder of just how excessive our country can be.

ikea secret

doug told me that if you buy a candy bar from ikea you can take the water taxi from red hook to manhattan for free. jon was here too while on tour so we went on an adventure to take a free water taxi with a candy bar. fyi, it's not easy to get to ikea. the g train is slow and it doesn't even get you that close. after a couple bus transfers and a short intermission charging jon's phone in a laundromat so that we could double check our directions, we were sitting on a bench resting after a long walk when we saw a big group of people with ikea bags. a good sign. we were just a block away. i got apple pie. jon got cake. then we boarded the water taxi with our receipts to learn that you need to purchase $10 minimum to get the free ride. after paying the $5 water taxi fee, i spent $8.77. so the candy bar secret isn't true but the water taxi was still fun. you get a much better view of brooklyn and manhattan than the staten island ferry (although that is FREE), the boat is smaller so you actually feel the water, they play the radio, and you can sit on the roofdeck!

hottness

new york has been hot and it got a lot hotter when beki and i went to a haiti relief party above an auto parts store in bushwick. bjork and the dirty projectors were dj'ing along with beki's friend brandon, tyondai braxton from battles, and others (i think a guy from the roots was there at one point). it was impossible to not break a sweat with so many people and so much loud music in an upper floor warehouse space. luckily the event was pretty low-key so we could snag the a/c unit blowing on the dj's. we left briefly to get something to eat and returned to a lot of black metal thrown into the mix. felt like a different party. i didn't have a camera so i stole these images from flickr. at one point beki and i found ourselves at the dj stand just inches from the crew. having listened to bjork for many years on solitary walks and driving through snowstorms. it was surreal to be standing next to her when she's singing along to beyonce. such is life.

we stayed until 3am. beki went back to baltimore early the next day and i went to new rochelle to visit doug and ruth rand. we put his boat in, had breakfast, visited his friends garden, did chores, visited ruth's laboratory, and then i returned to the city. it was a pleasant visit.

mad lib day in the life

in a nutshell, a day of my life in new york is as follows. i wake up and make plans to go to (attraction) but actually i walk around (nyc burrough). at this point i eat (ethnic food) because i don't know where the time has gone and i'm hungry, probably because (distraction). then i go to a (specialty store) to find that they aren't open anymore so i go next door to a (specialty store) and look at (store inventory) but actually buy a (different thing). at this point i'm tired and think i should just go home and eat a good meal but instead i (incredibly exhausting feat) before getting back to my apartment and collapsing on my friends hide-a-bed covered in shedded cat fur.

in a nutshell, a day of my life in new york is as follows. i wake up and make plans to go to Central Park but actually i walk around Williamsburg. at this point i eat a Polish Dumpling because i don't know where the time has gone and i'm hungry, probably because A Woman Told Me About Jesus for About 500 Hours and I Thought I Saw An Interesting Building In The Distance. then i go to a Spray Paint Store to find that they aren't open anymore so i go next door to a Guitar Shop and look at Guitars but actually buy a Culture Club Cassette Tape. at this point i'm tired and think i should just go home and eat a good meal but instead i Ride the L Train to Union Square and Walk Around Greenwich Village Until The Sun Goes Down Then I Walk To Battery Park and Then Think It Would Be Nice To See The Chrysler Building At Night and Ride The Subway to Grand Central Just To Change My Mind Then Ride The L Train Back to Brooklyn Where I Hear Good Music So I Walk To Investigate Where It's Coming From At Which Point I Have No Interest In Going Into The Bar Which, Turns Out, Is A Sports Bar and I'm Now As Far From The Subway As I Am From Home So I Walk Back And I Have To Pee Really Bad before getting back to my apartment and collapsing on my friends hide-a-bed covered in shedded cat fur.

field trip

field trip around the big apple. then kathleen went to iceland. bye.

eastcoast

kathleen and i boarded the amtrak, passed through the carolinas by night, and into nyc the following day. we arrived into the canyons of steel to traverse the subway with our luggage (mine which has grown on this trip) to our new home in levi and eliannas greenpoint apartment.